Nolte’s

Met the owner… It’s like we went to a used car lot. The owner wouldn’t let anyone speak. The worst dress shopping experience you could ask for in Kansas City.

I found Nolte’s because the dress I wanted was said to be at their establishment. Because I am from St. Louis, I called the shop to make certain the dress was there before driving across the state. The associate assured me the dress was available to try on and I made my appointment for the following weekend, 6 days after my initial contact with the store.
Upon arriving to the store on the day of my appointment, there was no staff at the front desk to greet me or my guest. The owner, Mr. Nolte, was in an office to the left of the entrance, with his back to the door, and did not stir even though my friend and I were there. We waited ten minutes INTO my appointment time before walking further into the store to find an associate, when one finally confirmed my appointment and said she would send someone to help us.
After another five minutes, Mr. Nolte finally came out of his office, acknowledging us for the first time (even though he was seated less than 15 feet from us while we looked around in confusion), and stating he would help me with my appointment. When he asked what brought me across the state, I gave him the name and style number of the dress I called about the week before. The sales associate standing nearby, the one who I first saw, quickly replied that the dress I wanted was never in the store. This surprised me, as the associate I spoke with told me otherwise. The associate was not sympathetic, instead she was very cold. Unapologetic.
At this point another associate came up to the desk and asked what I was looking for, then claiming she would find similar dresses to pull for my appointment. Mr. Nolte did not apologize for the confusion or acknowledge there was a problem, nor did any of the sales associates. Instead, he walked away without so much as another word and hid in another room,. The other associate walked away claiming she was ‘helping’ another bride (but there were no other brides in the store), and the one who went to pull dresses for me came back with three dresses that were NOTHING like what I asked.
When I told her I wasn’t interested in the dresses she pulled, that they didn’t meet the criteria we just listed (and did not look anything like the dress I wanted), she said, «Well, I thought they might be fun,» and offered several excuses/​examples of how I could make them look more like the original dress.
At this point, I was totally disappointed and, without getting angry, stated this to the associate. She, instead of apologizing, told me to look through the racks and see what I wanted to try on, and that she would be back in a few minutes to help. Mr. Nolte never returned, even after I told the associate I wanted to cancel my appointment.
The appointment ended about 20 minutes after it was supposed to start, without having tried on a single garment.
The business model shown here was completely unprofessional. The owner had every opportunity to rectify the situation and chose not to, wasting my time and gas money (a four hour drive there and then again home).
I would never recommend their services, and cannot imagine using Mr. Nolte as a wedding planner, especially after the unprofessional conversation I had with him last Saturday. This was the worst bridal experience I’ve ever had. It’s entirely inappropriate to tell someone you have a dress when you do not, especially when it it KNOWN that they are driving from the other side of the state to see the dress.

Nolte’s does have some beautiful dresses, and the store is clean so I will start with both of these as two positive points the store as to offer potential customers. I would not say the dresses provide good value relative to their design and quality. At these price points, customers can get more for their money shopping elsewhere. The service I received during my experience I would rate as very poor. The sales associate I worked with seemed «elitist» and kept admiring herself in the mirror while helping us (it was painfully awkward). She didn’t really provide us what we were looking for when we described our wish list, and kept saying over and over, «Nolte’s is the best bridal store in America.» I’m sorry, but that is just not how you move product. Thankfully I am married now and will never have to go there ever again.

I am not a huge Unilocaler however something has to be said for the store. This was by far the worst bridal store I’ve ever been to. Not only was their selection mediocre and cheap looking The salesgirl might as well have been on vacation. She put our dresses in the room and never came back once. We walked out of the store without so much as a goodbye as there was no one even in the store. This store is proof that you get what you pay for. I don’t care if the dress cost $ 50 I would never buy anything from them

I wish I could give Nolte’s 0 stars. We received the worst treatment and service from Nolte himself and his associate. We were looking for a specific Rina Di Montella mother of the bride dress and when we called in advance Emily (sales associate) said yes of course we have a few of them here. Once we arrived, Emily showed us to all the mother of the bride dresses. We asked where the Rina ones were and she said they were intertwined in the collection. After searching through every dress on our own we found no dresses from the designer we were looking for. When we asked Emily for a more specific location of the dresses, she instantly grew defensive and said she said on the phone they only had a couple.
Then Nolte himself came out (instantly asking what our complaint was– we hadn’t even started complaining at that point!) and mocked our need to try on that specific brand by saying you don’t pick a dress by the name but by the way it looks. Well Mr. Nolte, obviously we did our research already if we know that Rina is the designer we like. He was extremely rude and they were both so unhelpful. A girl came out shortly after with a bridal gown on and they both completely dismissed us and gave all their attention to her.
I cannot believe someone like that is the owner of a bridal store. For someone who was willing to spend over $ 1000 at your store, I am shocked at the treatment we received. I highly recommend that no one wastes their time or money at a shameful and pitiful store as Nolte’s.

While Nolte’s had some beautiful dresses I went with 2 Stars because of my experience. Before my appointment I went online and found a few dresses that Nolte’s carried that I really liked and wanted to try on. Upon arriving at the store the saleslady gestured towards my list as if to ask me what it was and when I replied that it was a list of a few gowns that I saw online that I would like to try on she told me to put it away and go look through the racks, definitely not the response that I was planning on. Brushing it off, my M.O.H. and I began looking through the racks and found some really beautiful options that I was very excited to try on. After trying on a few beautiful dresses my saleslady informed me that I get 15% off of my dress if I buy that day and continued to try to sell me a dress that was way out of my budget (even though I informed her prior to trying it on that it was too much). I informed the lady that while I thought the dress was beautiful that it was almost twice my budget and that I could not afford it. After this she brought in a dress and rudely informed me that it was «the cheapest dress in the store» and continued to, what I felt to be, pressure me into purchasing. I informed the lady that it was only my second time trying on dresses and that with all of my family being out of town that I want to find a few dresses that top my list so that I can bring my family in to help me choose. After this conversation I felt as though I was rushed through the remainder of the appointment, knocking out a 90 minute appointment in 25 minutes. Once I had finished trying on dresses I asked the saleslady if it would be okay for my M.O.H. to try on dresses and she told me that she had another appointment and that we could use the other dressing rooms before leaving to head out front to meet her other appointment. I was so confused, I thought I had 90 minutes worth of help that I was supposed to be receiving. After my M.O.H. finished trying on bridesmaid dresses we headed to the front of the store to get the style #s of the gowns that I liked so that I could try to keep everything straight in my mind. The lady at the front then had to track down my saleslady so that she could get the style #s for me. Both women returned to the front where I was given a card with the styles listed on the front. My M.O.H and I thanked both ladies for their help as we left only to receive a «goodbye» from the lady who was working the front desk and not the lady who was helping us with the dresses. I went home to look up the style #s only to find that the #s I was given were not correct and now I am left not being able to remember what I even tried on that day. While some of my favorite dresses were at Nolte’s I left with too sour of a taste in my mouth to return. I know that my experience at Nolte’s was more of the exception than the rule, but I was so disappointed and upset by the rudeness that both my M.O.H. and I experienced while at this establishment. I really hope that my sales associate was just having a bad day and that she is not always like that because she pretty much ruined my experience at Nolte’s and is the sole reason that I will be purchasing my dress elsewhere.

I didn’t get my dress at Noltes. It was between two dresses one at Nolte’s (the one in Prairie Village) and one at Ida’s. I ended up liking the Ida’s dress more but i had a wonderful experience at Nolte’s. And here is one of the things I really liked about Nolte’s…
I don’t want to have to dress up like i am going to the prom to get good service. I showed up at Nolte’s in jeans and a tee shirt and I still got top notch service. I really appreciated that. I went to both Nolte locations and I had a good experience at both of them.
They have a large and beautiful selection of dresses. And Michael Nolte stopped in and was super friendly. I have nothing bad to say about this place.

Nolte’s was the absolute worst part of my wedding. I bought my dress from them, because they have beautiful dresses and I had heard that they had great customer service. My dress arrived 4 weeks late, and it was several sizes too small. What you need to know about Nolte’s before you buy a dress there, is that THEY DO NOT HAVE ALTERATIONS! They have one woman who comes a couple of times weekly to do alterations, but she doesn’t work for Nolte’s. So if your dress doesn’t fit, Nolte’s will NOT care. I was shocked at what happened after my dress arrived. The woman who comes to Nolte’s to do alterations kept insisting that my dress fit correctly, and that «not being able to breathe» was a part of the «suffering» that I must endure while wearing a wedding dress.
Since I still felt as though the dress was not fitting correctly, the tailor asked Mrs. Nolte to give her advice. She took one look at the dress and admitted that it was way to small. The tailor kept insisting that she wouldn’t be able to fix it, but Mrs. Nolte brushed that off and told us that she believed in the tailor.
I called the tailor a couple of days later to see if she truly felt like she could fix the dress, and she said that she realized she wasn’t going to have time to fix it. Mind you, this was 3 weeks before my wedding. Nobody had bothered to tell me that she wasn’t going to be altering it. I called Nolte’s and they recommended I take it to an alterations place on the plaza. When I went to get my dress from Nolte’s to take it to the plaza tailor, they refused to let me take the dress without paying for the remaining balance.
That plaza tailor is another story in itself, but bottom line, SHE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO DO WEDDING DRESS ALTERATIONS. She insisted she couldn’t do a bustle, because she doesn’t know how, and if she were to try, it would look «sloppy.» I called Nolte’s to double check that this plaza tailor in fact did work with wedding dresses, and they insisted that they use her often, which I later learned from the tailor that according to her, she hadn’t worked with Nolte’s much.
The tailor messed my dress so badly, that it was a complete disaster. She also had 2 dogs in her store, which might or might not explain why the bottom of my dress was turning black slowly.
My florist recommended a place to get my bustle done, so I scheduled that and decided I would take my dress no matter what it looked like, because every time I would go to the tailor, it somehow looked worse. After two weeks of this nightmare, I called Nolte’s and said that my wedding was next week, and I NEEDED solution. The person on the phone, Brandy, said she’d tell Mr. Nolte and have him call me back. I also asked if they could please help clean my dress, because it was black on the bottom. They said that it wasn’t their responsibility to clean dresses, and they can’t promise me that, but they’ll try to spot clean it.
In the meantime, I paid the tailor at the plaza her money, because I couldn’t deal with her and wasn’t willing to fight about it a week before my wedding. I took my dress to the place that my florist had recommended, and as soon as the new alterations lady saw my dress, she was shocked! The alterations lady told me she stayed up until 3 in the morning fixing my dress, because there was no way she was going to let me walk down the aisle in a dress looking like that.
After the new alterations place fixed my entire dress, I realized that it was 4 days later, and no one from Nolte’s had called me back, even though I told them that it was a imperative that I figure out a solution, because my wedding was a mere week away. They didn’t know that I had taken my dress elsewhere. So they let 4 days pass by the week before my wedding, and didn’t have the professionalism to try to help me find a solution. I decided to call them back, and Brandy told me that she hadn’t told Mr. Nolte to call me yet, and she’s sorry she was busy with other things. No one from Nolte’s ever reached out to me to see what happened with my dress, or to see if I had even fixed it.

Not to mention, that throughout this whole ordeal, they took no responsibility for the size being wrong, and insisted that I had picked my own size. Nolte’s claims that all of their customers choose their own sizes, and that they’re not responsible. If you’re not able to help customers pick sizes, or to provide alterations, then what exactly do you do???
My vendors all said that they had heard horror stories like this about Nolte’s and that they weren’t surprised.
This is the FIRST review I have ever done. I don’t even normally take reviews into account too much, because I know that there are 2 sides to every story. However, I sincerely hope you stay far away from Nolte’s. They almost ruined my wedding, and caused much angst and tears in the weeks before it. Notle’s made NO attempt to help, and seemed very uninterested once I had paid. Stay far away!

After getting engaged, the first ‘to-​do’ on my list was… DRESS, DRESS, DRESS! Nolte’s immediately came to mind! I had tried on a few dresses at another boutique in town, but I didn’t feel like they truly understood my style and vision. Plus, they only allowed me to try on 5 – 6 dresses total. At Nolte’s, I worked with Ashley who was absolutely fabulous! She called me one Thursday afternoon to invite me in after a cancellation. Without a thought I said yes! The next thing I knew, we were knee deep in silk organza and chiffon. I tried on at least 20 dresses and found «the one». It’s like it was made for me. We selected 6 of our favorites and had those ready when I brought in my mother and bridesmaids a couple of weeks later. Without a doubt, The Austin was a hit! I had on at the end of the appointment when Mr. Nolte stopped by. I felt immediately he was interested in my story and offered nothing but excellent advice and referrals. Through his suggestions, I feel like I found not only great photographers, but a dress that Daniel and I will never forget! Thank you Ashley and Mr. Nolte for making me feel like a beautiful bride!

These people have been doing what they do for 28 years — they know weddings and I do NOT which is why put my faith to the experts at Nolte’s. My sister is getting married and we’ve been going mad looking for bridesmaid’s dresses (I’m personally particular about finding a dress that isn’t plainly hideous, as most are — but the bride gets the last word… as that one unfortunate tradition goes.)
Michael Nolte is actually certified in the wedding industry — and I wasn’t even aware until I logged onto their website that there was even such a thing — and well there is. This place is no joke. Walking in I felt as though I might have to be interviewed by someone before set free to look around — it is a true elitist bride’s paradise!
Seriously though, the dresses are so elegant and dramatic (if you’re a picky bride — you’ll be shocked and in love with this place — it’s THAT good). Like Amy R. said, it is not budget-​friendly — it’s couture bridal dressing so ‘inexpensive’ is a nonexistent word here.
They do excellent marketing, as their website lists all the top 10 ways that Nolte’s is above and beyond any other bridal shop but I’ll just highlight a few of my favorites:
1. They give you free membership in the National Bridal Service.
2.They will order any gown you want — in the world. If you have one of those «this is the one» feelings while flipping through a bridal magazine, they are the ones that make it happen AND they even match the competitors price. That’s pretty incredible.
3. They can connect you to other certified wedding planners and this is amazing because not only would they have exquisite taste as a member of Nolte’s select coordinators but it’s like planning your big day in one neat little package. If you have the money to buy a dress at Nolte’s, than you’ll surely have enough to work with the Nolte wedding staff planners to translate your dream into reality.
I’m amazed at the quality of this place, especially after spending so much time at bridal shops lacking taste and class — Nolte’s to the rescue is more like it.